ER and provider visits are billed at higher complexity, cost: Study

Visits to emergency departments and physicians' offices have grown more complex and costly over time – at least based on the way providers are billing, per new research, Axios reports. "There is a trend towards visits being billed at higher levels over time," wrote the authors of the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker report released Feb. 27. The overall number of claims billed at the highest two levels of complexity in outpatient settings such as office, urgent care, and emergency departments grew from 22% in 2004 to 43% in 2021, the report found.